Okay, the first disclaimer to this post is: I woke up at 3am to catch a 6am flight....I can't be held responsible for anything I write in my current, sleep-deprived state.
The Continental flights went without a hitch. My only complaint is that.....if the airlines are so insistent upon you checking in two hours before the flight, the least they could do is staff the check in counter two hours before the first flight of the day! We (and about 50 others) were dutifully at O'hare at 4am....but Continental's desk doesn't open until 4:30. The way I see it, they stole a half hour of precious sleep from me!
My first impression of the damage in Cozumel is that the structural damage seems almost random. Along the waterfront in San Miguel, utterly destroyed buildings sit alongside ones which seem untouched. I don't have any photos yet, but I will before the end of the week. For example, the Punta Langosta shopping mall across the street from the cruise ship pier is pretty devastated, but Carlos and Charlies seems relatively untouched (hmmm, that smells like a hangover waiting to happen). Then, on the road between San Miguel and Scuba Club Cozumel, there are numerous devastated buildings....however, Scuba Club Cozumel just lost a couple of docks and the beach bar?! Why?
What I can see, though, is that everything that could be fixed quickly, is almost completely repaired. They have worked their butts off to get things operational again.
On the diving front, the good news is that all the dive sites are open. Adios....for now.
